Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, was set to conduct a demo testing of its internet services on April 9 at the forthcoming Bangladesh Investment Summit, as announced by Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury at a press briefing on March 23 at the Foreign Service Academy.
However, Chowdhury clarified that this demonstration would not mark the official launch of Starlink in Bangladesh, as the commercial launch would require more time.
The Bangladesh Investment Summit was scheduled to take place from April 7 to April 10 at Hotel InterContinental Dhaka, with the event already drawing considerable attention. According to BIDA, over 550 foreign investors from 50 countries had registered to attend, along with more than 2,300 Bangladeshi investors.
“We are very hopeful about the upcoming investment summit. Although investments will not increase by tenfold suddenly, we estimate at least 2 or 3 percent growth in investments,” said Chowdhury.
The summit aimed to focus more on networking and building connections rather than on seminars. Government organisations, including the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Ministry of Commerce, were expected to hold separate sessions with potential investors to foster relationship-building.
Top officials from global companies, such as Meta, Uber, Telenor, and Samsung, were scheduled to participate in the summit, alongside representatives from political parties who would also have the opportunity to engage with investors.
BIDA stated that several prominent business leaders were set to attend, including Óscar García Maceiras, CEO of Zara Group; Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World; Rosy Winterton, Baroness and UK trade representative; Kyeongsu Lee, Vice President of Samsung C&T; JunSeok Han, CEO of Giordano; Steven Kobos, CEO of Excelerate Energy; Mike Orgill, Head of Public Policy for Uber Asia Pacific; and Sarim Aziz, Director of Public Policy at Meta. Leading venture capital firms like B Capital, Gobi, Conjunction, Marubeni and GFR were also expected to participate, focusing on startup investments and expanding the digital economy.
Chowdhury stressed the importance of local and foreign investments in creating more jobs, stating, "We want to make the investors see the genuine picture of Bangladesh.
We do not want to give them any false hopes." He also noted that the top participating countries in the summit included the US, China, the UK, India, Singapore, and Japan.
As part of the summit’s activities, major foreign investors, along with a 26-member delegation from South Korea, were to visit key industrial sites, including Chattogram, Mirsarai, and the Korean EPZ, on April 7, BIDA reported. A startup showcase programme was also scheduled for the same day at Hotel Intercontinental Dhaka.
On April 8, leading foreign investors were expected to visit the Japanese Economic Zone in Narayanganj to explore investment opportunities, followed by a parallel evening programme at Hotel InterContinental Dhaka.
April 9 would see the Chief Advisor to the Government of Bangladesh officially inaugurating the main event, joined by ambassadors, policymakers, and business leaders.
The day’s programme would include the Youth Entrepreneurship Expo, focusing on emerging business talent, and a breakout session on renewable energy, hosted by the European Union and UNDP. In the evening, a special cultural event would be organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture for investors.
On April 10, a series of breakout sessions would cover key investment sectors, including the digital economy, textiles, agriculture and agro-processing, and healthcare.
These sessions were to be led by Citi NA and UNDP, HSBC and BGMEA, the Dutch Embassy and LCP, and various stakeholders such as Inspira, EBL, and the Sajida Foundation.
The day’s agenda would also feature a matchmaking session for direct engagement between investors and industry leaders, along with a roundtable discussion on global investment best practices.
UNDP, FCDO, Grameenphone, the World Bank, and FICCI were noted as key partners for the event, according to BIDA.
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